The present invention relates to data acquisition and more specifically to a mechanism for transmitting from a sensor assembly to an acquisition system a message that includes self-describing information.
In oil fields, there are many elements, such as piplines and wells, for which information, such as the temperature or pressure, is gathered and transmitted to an acquisition system for processing. Sensors of various types monitor these elements and detect analog values, such as temperature or pressure, emanating from these elements. The sensors are interconnected with a bus, which may be associated with a bus controller. Old style sensors transmit the analog values to the bus controller, which uses a table to convert the analog values to digital values. The bus controller transmits the digital values to an acquisition system that collects the digital values, performs calculations on the digital values, saves the digital values and/or the calculations on persistent media, and displays the digital values and/or the calculations on a remote display.
In order to perform these types of functions, various proprietary systems, such as Computer Automobile Network, ProfiBus, and Fieldbus, have arisen. These proprietary systems provide, among other things, sensors, busses, and bus controllers, that are used in these proprietary systems. However, one of the problems with these proprietary systems is that the parts from one system are not interchangeable with the parts from another system. For example, it is not possible to use a sensor from one proprietary system with a bus from another proprietary system. As a result, it is not possible to mix the optimal parts of one system with the optimal parts of another system to create an overall optimal system.
Based on the foregoing, it is desirable to provide an improved mechanism for monitoring physical events and for transmitting information associated with these physical events to an acquisition system.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a mechanism for transmitting from a sensor assembly to an acquisition system a message that includes self-describing information. The sensor assembly monitors elements, such as pipes and wells, and detects analog values, such as temperature or pressure, emanating from the elements. The sensor assembly translates the analog values into digital values, creates messages that include information that uniquely identifies the sensor assembly and the digital values, where the information and the digital values are self-described, and transmits the messages to an acquisition system. Because the messages are self-describing, the acquisition system can receive and comprehend messages from any sensor assembly. This is so regardless of the type of sensor assembly and the manufacturer of the sensor assembly. As a result, different types and makes of sensor assemblies may be used in the same acquisition system.